The Scarlet Phoenix and the Prince of Winter

Chapter Fifty Six

Kentan looked so pleased with himself. And I could not blame him. He was smart enough to know how to trap Volo and me easily. And his victory was our stupidity. I never expected this to have happened, but I knew myself better than anyone else. I should have not fallen into this obvious trap, now that I think about it. I could never face my followers again after this mishap.

"What are you planning to do?" I asked him angrily. I tried to free myself from his curse but it was useless. Kentan was successful with his sinister plan. "Release me from here now!"

"I am afraid that I could not do that, Alfiora," he said cockily. He was still floating in the water like a water lily and that pissed me off for some reason. "I have to catch you two... I had heard that the two of you had gotten along so well in the last time that you were together, so I can't let you two combine your forces against me."

"So that is what you wanted," I told him coldly. "You want us out."

"That's right. I always wanted to come back here because as this is our birthplace," he said dreamily. "This place emits natural energies that deities like us possess. Ruling over here could make me the most powerful deity in the whole world."

"Now I get it," I said after realizing what was his mission of coming here. "You wanted to take control over this place because of its history. And just as you said earlier, a deity who comes here while holding gold will become powerless and helpless. Is that how you killed that deity centuries ago? Did you kill that poor deity by drowning him here while he was holding something that was made of gold?"

But instead of answering my accusation, Kentan got up from his sitting position and started walking through the water towards the golden ship where Volo and I were trapped. It surprised me for a couple of seconds that he could walk on water, but then I remembered that he was a deity of the sea. Of course, he can do things like this.

He reached the ship in no time, but he did not touch it nor get near enough from it. He was just there, a few steps away from us and I think I know why. Even himself could get affected by the mysterious powers of this bay, of this sea, and that he is distancing himself from the golden ship as a safety precaution.

"I did not know that you are a coward," I told him to make him mad at me. "I did not know that the infamous deity named Kentan was a big coward. Disposing of us like this by setting a trap? Where is your honor? By doing this it only exposed your fear that we might defeat you in a fair battle." I said mockingly, then smirking at him after so that he would get offended by what I was trying to do.

But he was thick. "Say whatever you want, Alfiora, but I would not get offended. Do you think that I will fall prey to your words? I know what you are trying to do. You want me to get insulted by telling me those lines so that I'll free you, but that will not happen. I may be a coward, but I am not a fool."

And after he said that, he raised his right hand into the air, and then something magical happened. Seawater rose up into his raised hands and it formed into a long spear. It was a pointed spear that was crystal-clear and I can see it exude magic.

So this was his power. Is he going to impale us with his seawater-made spear? That was possible and I stared at Volo who was still lying unconscious on the floor of this golden ship. I wished that he would wake up though, just so because I did not want to face this evil deity alone. I think I would have thought of an escape plan if he was just awake.

"Say goodbye to Aure now, Alfiora," said Kentan. "This is your end. But do not worry, I promise that I will take care of this kingdom better than the two of you."

And with that, he threw the spear into this ship. It hit the middle of the ship's body and with such power, it was able to cut it in half. I screamed in frustration as the two halves of this ship started to lean downwards, and seawater started to enter it. I tried my best again to move my body but I could not do it. It was as if the golden ship served like glue to our bodies and I was already getting wet from the water.

I also saw Volo's body getting submerged into the water. He was in the other half of the ship and his part sunk faster than mine. "No!" I was able to shout before I also got submerged into the water myself. Underwater, I could not breathe. I felt my energy started to disappear.

This was the first time that I got scared like this. So is this how death feels? Is this how the humans feel whenever death is looming over them like a thief in the night?

Air bubbles were coming out of my nose. I was being pulled into the deep of the ocean together with the sinking golden ship. It was terrifying. I was starting to lose consciousness. I was starting to feel pain, and then numbness.

***

I was sure that it was a dream, but it was too vivid to be just a dream. And why did I dreamt of that in the first place? why did it felt like I personally lived that life and that I was there for such a long time? What is happening to me?

When I woke up I found myself lying on the bed alone back at Millicent's mansion. I was a little bit dizzy and confused as I try to stand up. I also realized that I was breathing deeply and heavily. It was as if I was indeed drowning and losing my breath.

The door suddenly opened and Millicent's mother came inside the room and greeted me. "Oh, you are already awake. Thank goodness it was nothing serious. The Crown Prince was very worried about you."

"W-What happened?" I asked as Millicent's mother put a tray of food into the bedside table. My head was still pounding from all of what I just dreamed of. I even thought that I was still Alfiora, the deity of fire and volcanoes.

But I was back now to being Rainha. Rainha the court servant. There was melancholy when I realized that I was back to being myself again as my throat felt like it was being constricted.

"The Crown Prince told us that you just slept on the snow carriage on the way here. And when you arrived here, he was tried to wake you up but you never did wake up. He said that you seemed to be having a nightmare as you kept on mumbling incoherently."

So that's what happened. "I wasn't able to wake up?" That came as a surprise to me because from what I remember, I was still fine before I took a nap while we were still traveling back here.

Millicent's mother nodded. "The Crown Prince was really worried since according to him a young doctor in the hills checked you and suggested that you should have rested before going back here. The Crown Prince feels bad because he thinks that it is his fault that you experienced something like that."

"Oh no..." I gasped with alarm because I just realized that Prince Kao would have blamed himself for what happened to me. "I have to talk to him," I said and when Millicent's mother stared at me with surprise I cleared what I just said. "I mean... I have to talk with the Crown Prince. He needs to know that I am fine."

"Well, he is currently in the hall below. He is talking with some of the prominent people here in Plumba and I think he will be busy for a while."

"I'll go to him," I said. "I am his court servant, I have to do my job in the first place---"

But she shook her head and stopped me by holding me in my shoulders with both her hands. "You don]t need to be there this time," she said to me kindly and I can tell that she was indeed worried about my health. "The Crown Prince told me to not make you move or do things. You have to rest first, dear."

"But---"

"No buts," she added, smiling. "I admire how dedicated you are with your job but please, just rest for a while. Don't make the Crown Prince worry for you again or else he will blame himself for the second time..."

I nodded slowly at what she just said. "You are right. I guess I'll rest this then." I decided not to disobey the Crown Prince's orders so that he won't feel bad for himself again. Millicent's mother then smiled at me and told me to rest again, which I did. When she left the room I went to sleep again but to no luck. I could not sleep, and I think I know why.

The dreams that I just had before I woke up were making my mind so alive and awake. And I expected this to happen. Those were not regular dreams, after all. I have a big theory that whatever it was that I dreamt of, I think it belonged to the Scarlet Phoenix's memories.

But who was Volo? Who was Kentan? I have never heard anything about them, to be honest. They weren't even taught at school when I was still studying. I don't even know that a war happened ages ago, back when Kentan and his people tried to kill Alfiora and Volo...

But it could have been just a dream. If those things really happened in the past, I think I would have known at least a portion of it, right? That war would have been taught in our history class. Bit it isn't, so I was starting to think that there was a possibility that it was just me having a very imaginative dream.

It was already past midnight when The Crown Prince came back. He looked exhausted, but he immediately went to my side and touched my forehead. "You no longer have a fever," he said with a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. I thought I was going to send you to a doctor."

I smiled weakly at him. I tried to get up from my bed but he stopped me and let me lie still. "Don't strain yourself, Rainha. I won't forgive myself if you feel ill again."

"But it is not your fault," I told him blushing. Of course, something inside of me was pleased to know that he was blaming himself for what had happened to me because that would mean that he really did care about my welfare, but I have learned to not push my luck that far. I know now that the Crown Prince is just a very kind person. Him caring about me does not equate to him liking me.

"I should have let you rest back at that inn before we came back in here. I am so sorry, Rainha. I was just trying to finish our responsibilities here as early as we can so that we could go to your brother as soon as possible. But by rushing back here I set aside your health---"

"It's okay, Prince Kao. I am okay now so you don't have to worry anymore. Anyway, what did you do while I was here resting? Was it true that you were talking to the people of Plumba?"

He nodded. "There was a fancy dinner that Millicent's family prepared and they invited the prominent families in this area. Harvey's family was invited, did you know that? But of course, none of his family was able to attend."

"Oh, so his family is popular here too..." I replied. "But I should have expected it."

"Yeah, and the dinner was interesting," he told me. "I thought that I was going to get bored but it turns out it was the most fruitful activity that I did while we are here."

"Really? What did you do at the dinner then?"

"I promised them that once I became the King, I will help them in building the seawall that they are dying to build. That way, Millicent and her family would no longer worry about it. Millicent doesn't need to marry me anymore for that to happen, and for me, that is a great achievement."

"It is!" I said with glee as it was a piece of good news. "They must have liked what you said about building the seawall!"

Prince Kao nodded happily. "They were ecstatic, to say the least. I guess that's what they really wanted to hear from me from the start, but they were having second thoughts of bringing that up since they feared that I might object."

"Yeah, mentioning it to you would have been a do-or-die situation for them. It could have been a loss to them if you found at that it was their goal all along."

"That's true. But everything is okay now. And I guess I have the confidence of the townspeople here because of that," he said proudly and I congratulated him for his good work. "But that is not why I am so happy right now."

My eyebrows arched at what he told me. "What made you so happy then?"

He was smiling from ear to ear and I could tell that whatever it is that he is going to tell me would be one hell of a good news. "Rainha, I found what we are searching here for. I found the coat of arms of Millicent's family that would lead us to the Snow Gypsies."